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On this evening 250 years ago in Savannah, Royal Governor Sir James Wright was arrested by the Georgia Council of Safety. Earlier in the day Governor Wright had summoned Joseph Clay and Noble Wimberly Jones, the leaders of the Council of Safety, to his Executive Mansion to deliver a threat: the British fleet anchored off…
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On this day 250 years ago at Johnson Hall in Johnstown, New York, Sir John Johnson surrendered to a force of 3000 New York militia led by Maj. Gen. Philip Schuyler. Johnson agreed to disband and handed over the arms of the unit of 400 Loyalists and Mohawk Indians who he had assembled in Johnstown…
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On this day 250 years ago in Philadelphia, the Continental Congress adopted a resolution granting General Washington permission to re-enlist free blacks in the Continental Army. Washington had originally recommended to the Congress that it bar the enlistment of blacks but recognized in late December that he needed their re-enlistments because so many of their fellow…
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On this day 250 years ago, the King of Great Britain entered into a treaty with the Landgrave of Hesse-Cassel whereby the Landgrave would furnish “twelve thousand men, completely equipped, and with artillery if desired.” In return, Britain would pay “30 crowns banco, or £7 4s. 4½d.” for every man amounting to £108,281 5s. per year to…
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On this day 250 years ago at his headquarters in Cambridge, Massachusetts, General George Washington wrote to Continental Congress President John Hancock and to Washington’s aide Lt. Col. Joseph Reed, who were both in Philadelphia, regarding the calamitous state of the Continental Army around Boston. The letter to Hancock included: I am exceedingly sorry, that…
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On this day 250 years ago on Prudence Island, Rhode Island, the militia defeated a raiding party of 250 Royal Navy sailors and marines from the HMS Glasgow and the sloop HMS Swan. The fighting began the previous day, January 12, when British raiders drove off the island approximately 50 Rhode Island militia who initially…
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On this day 250 years ago off the coast of Georgia, three British warships appear off Tybee Point. Source: Smithsonian at 106; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Rice_Boats On this day 250 years ago in Annapolis, Maryland, Samuel Chase wrote to John Adams regarding their return to Congress when it would reconvene: The Business of our provincial Convention draws to…
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On this day 250 years ago in Philadelphia, Frenchman Emmanuel de Pliarne wrote to General Washington about the secret contract that he and Pierre Penet were negotiating with the Continental Congress: We . . . find the Sentiments of their Committee of Secrecy very favourable, to us, and we asure your Excellency, that nothing shall…
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On this day 250 years ago on board the HMS Scorpion off the mouth of the Cape Fear River just below Wilmington, North Carolina, Royal Governor Josiah Martin issued a proclamation asking all Loyalists to rally to “His Majesty’s Royal Standard” and assemble at Brunswick, North Carolina. From there they would march on Wilmington and…
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On this day 250 years ago in Philadelphia, a pamphlet entitled Common Sense by Thomas Paine was published. Paine’s pamphlet was a searing indictment of monarchy in general and a clarion call for an independent and democratic America. Common Sense would almost immediately become the most widely read publication in America, surpassed in sales only…
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